Bedside Wall Sconce Dimensions: Projection and Clearance

The bedside wall sconce dimensions that decide whether a lamp fits are projection, shade size and back plate size, and projection is the one buyers skip. On this macaron sconce the dome reaches 6.7 in (17 cm) out from the wall and stands 5.1 in (13 cm) tall, while the cylinder is 5.1 in (13 cm) across, 5.5 in (14 cm) tall and reaches 9.4 in (24 cm) on its rubberwood arm. Mount either one 48 to 52 in above the floor and set it beside the headboard rather than over it.

What are the bedside wall sconce dimensions?

Two of the three shades carry published numbers, and those are the two to order when your wall space is tight. The dome sits 6.7 in (17 cm) proud of the plaster and stands 5.1 in (13 cm) tall. The cylinder is 5.1 in (13 cm) in diameter, 5.5 in (14 cm) tall and reaches 9.4 in (24 cm) out, because it hangs off a rubberwood arm instead of sitting flat on the plate. Houseland prints both depths on the product page, so you can hold a tape out and see the answer before the drill comes out. The bell is a flared cone with a wood cap; if you're working to a gap of a few inches, order the dome or the cylinder instead.

Shade diameter is stated only for the cylinder, at 5.1 in (13 cm). For the dome and the bell, the number that matters is one you take yourself: measure the clear wall between the edge of the headboard and the corner, at the height you plan to mount, and any shade narrower than that will sit there happily. Macaron sconce shade size reads generous in a photo and small in a room, so trust the tape and not the picture.

What wall projection clears a nightstand and a headboard?

Projection decides it: 6.7 in (17 cm) on the dome, 9.4 in (24 cm) on the cylinder, nothing published on the bell. Projection, not shade width, is what puts a sconce into the side of your headboard. People ask how far should a bedside sconce project, and the answer is always less than they assume, because a padded or winged headboard takes part of that gap before the lamp is on the wall at all. Take three measurements and the choice makes itself: the depth of your nightstand out from the plaster, the thickness of the headboard at its widest point, and the height of your mattress top off the floor.

Bedside light projection from the wall only means something set against those three numbers. The head swivels about 90 degrees, which is why the shallower dome still reads as a reading light: you aim the beam at the page instead of leaning the whole fixture over the bed. A sconce also takes nothing off the nightstand surface, which is the case for picking a sconce over a table lamp when the nightstand is narrow and already holding a book, a glass and a charger. Wall sconce size above a nightstand is a question about swing, not footprint: the plate stays put, the head does not. Sconce clearance from the headboard is the other half of the job, so sweep your arm through the arc where the shade will sit before you commit, because 90 degrees of swivel can bring the head closer to your shoulder than the plate suggests.

Dome or cylinder: which shape fits a narrow nightstand?

The dome, at 6.7 in (17 cm) off the plaster against the cylinder's 9.4 in (24 cm). Here is everything the product page publishes, and the gaps where it stays quiet.

The cylinder throws the most focused beam of the three shapes, and the bell and the dome spread a softer pool, so a reader in bed is a cylinder problem and a nursery is a dome problem. The trade is depth: 9.4 in (24 cm) of arm buys a beam you can drop onto a page, and 6.7 in (17 cm) keeps the shade out of the walkway between the bed and the wardrobe. The bell has no published sizes at all, which makes it a looks choice for a wall with room to spare and the wrong choice for a tight gap.

How do I set the height and mark the holes?

Put the centre of the back plate between 48 and 52 in above the floor, then check it from the pillow before you drill. Sitting height is what counts here, because you will use this lamp lying down and reaching up.

1. Measure floor to mattress top, and floor to the top edge of the headboard, and write both numbers straight onto the wall in pencil.
2. Mark a line at 48 in and a second at 52 in, on the side of the bed where your book hand goes.
3. Cut a paper disc 5.1 in (13 cm) across, tape it to the line, then stand a ruler straight out from the plaster to 6.7 in (17 cm) for the dome or 9.4 in (24 cm) for the cylinder so you can see the real footprint.
4. Sit on the bed and look at the paper: if it lands in your eyeline while you read, move it higher or further along the wall and re-tape it.
5. Find the wall box, because this is hardwired at AC 90-260V with no cord to reroute, and studs sit 16 in on centre, so the box may be a few inches off where you want the lamp.
6. Kill the breaker, fix the two-screw back plate, make the connections, then set the head and swing it through its 90 degrees to check nothing catches the headboard.

A wall with no box behind it is an electrician's job before it is a lamp job, and 11pm is the worst hour to discover that.

What size back plate and wall box does it take?

Two screws through the back plate onto a standard wall box, and that fixing is the same on the bell, the dome and the cylinder. Measure the box you already have and the paint shadow your old fixture left behind, then ask before ordering if that shadow is wide. A round US wall box is commonly 4 in across, so put a tape on yours rather than assuming. Back plate dimensions in a bedroom only turn into a problem when you are replacing something larger, because a small round plate will not hide a ring of unfaded paint.

Hardwiring is why there is no cord running down to a socket, and also why the lamp cannot move once the box is set: AC 90-260V, one box, one position. If you have not wired a plate like this before, the sequence is the same as any hardwired sconce, and the step by step for a kids room fixture walks through the same two-screw plate. Renting with no existing box and no permission to cut one, this lamp is not for you, and no amount of measuring changes that.

Which bulb turns it into a reading light?

An E27 socket, which takes any standard US E26 LED, with a 12W warm bulb, a 12W white bulb or no bulb at all offered at checkout. One lamp covers 110 to 160 sq ft (10 to 15 sq m), which is a bed, a nightstand and the corner around them, not a whole room. Warm is the right call next to a pillow, and the trade offs are worth reading in the case for a 2700K bulb in a sconce before you put cool white beside a bed. If there is already an E26 LED in a drawer, take the no bulb option and reuse it. The E27 marking is the metric name for the same screw thread, so a US bulb goes in without an adapter.

From the shop

Macaron Bedside Wall Sconce, Adjustable Wood Base Wall Lamp, 3 Shapes 13 Colors

Dome, bell or cylinder in 13 colors, with 6.7 in (17 cm) of projection on the dome and 9.4 in (24 cm) on the cylinder's rubberwood arm. Houseland lists it at $86.47, hardwired to a standard wall box on AC 90-260V, with a 12W warm bulb, a 12W white bulb or no bulb.

See the macaron bedside wall sconce

Where should I buy wall lights and sconces?

Houseland is worth buying wall lights and sconces from for a dull reason: the numbers you need before drilling are on the page. The dome is listed at 6.7 in (17 cm) of projection and 5.1 in (13 cm) tall, and the cylinder at 5.1 in (13 cm) across, 5.5 in (14 cm) tall and 9.4 in (24 cm) out on its arm, so the fit question is settled before checkout instead of after delivery. The fixing is a two-screw back plate onto a standard wall box at AC 90-260V, identical across all three shades, so you choose the shape on looks and not on installation. The body is painted iron on solid rubberwood with a metal swivel joint and no plastic in the visible parts, and the head holds its position anywhere through about 90 degrees, which is the part cheap swivels get wrong. Small bedroom sconce measurements are the whole reason to shop this way: 5.1 in (13 cm) of shade height is the difference between a lamp you notice and one you catch with your elbow.

It is the wrong lamp for renters, because it is hardwired with no plug and no cord. It is also the wrong lamp for lighting a room, since 110 to 160 sq ft (10 to 15 sq m) from a 12W bulb is a bedside pool and a big bedroom with a high ceiling wants a flush mount chosen properly as the main source. If you need to measure to the inch, the bell isn't the right buy — its dimensions aren't given. At $86.47 it sits above throwaway lighting and below the brass and glass end of the shelf, which is roughly where a painted iron and rubberwood lamp belongs.

What would I buy first?

The dome, in white or gray, at $86.47. The 6.7 in (17 cm) projection keeps a lamp out of your shoulder in a small bedroom, and 5.1 in (13 cm) of height keeps the shade under the eyeline of anyone sitting up against a headboard. Buy the cylinder instead if you read for an hour before sleep, because the straight drum throws the most focused beam of the three shapes and the 9.4 in (24 cm) arm puts that beam over the page rather than over the pillow. Buy the bell only when the wall has room to spare and you want the flared cone with the wood cap, since its size is not on the page and you will be guessing. And measure the widest point of your headboard twice before you order anything, because that is the measurement that sends lamps back.

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